Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:32 am Post subject: Toons that were never aired or only one episode ever shown

Anyone know of some toons that maybe only a single pilot episode was made, or a series that was produced but ended up being drastically different from the original pilot? Im going to go beyond the 80s and list everything I can think of from the 70s-Early 2000s (cause theres just not enough from the 80s alone). Please post any additions I may miss!

-Lost in Space - 1974. Hanna-Barbera animated pilot based upon the classic 60s Sci Fi television show. Broadcast once and never again! Bootleg copies exist from this broadcast as well as a better quality version from the master reel that includes "insert commercial here" screens.

-Ulysses 31 - 1980. Pilot is extremely different from the completed series. Do not think the pilot was ever shown to the public outside of Japan. Released on VHS in Japan. No English dub for this pilot exists.

Lupin the VIII - 1981-82?. Pilot produced by DiC and TMS of Japan. A continuation of the popular Japanese 'Lupin III' character that takes place in a space colony. No audio track was ever recorded, although there are fan dubs for it out there Ive heard. Pilot is very hard to find but apparently a bootleg is out there somewhere. Occasionally is posted to youtube and then quickly taken down (TMS is on top of their copyrights!)

-Solarman - 1987. Pilot made for an obscure Marvel superhero they were hoping would become the next big hit. When the comics ended up being a complete failure, the animated series was shelved. Pilot was not shown on TV until 1992, where it was randomly broadcast on Fox Kids Saturday morning. A VHS of the pilot was also released around that same time.

-Saban's Sailor Moon - 1991. Saban was going to adapt a version of Sailor Moon that was similar to Power Rangers in a sense. It would show the actors in live action situations, and then when it was time for action it would turn into animation. This was all new animation too! Not a dub of the Japanese Sailor Moon. Show is notoriously bad and has only been screened at conventions and fan events.

-Defenders of Dynatron City. 1992. Pilot produced by DiC in conjunction with a NES videogame. Game was a failure, the animated series was shelved. Pilot episode released on VHS and shown on Fox Kids randomly during the 1992-93 season.

-Plastic Man - 2005. Pilot made for Cartoon Network and never aired. Eventually adapted into a 2011 'DC Nation' short for Cartoon Network. Original version has never aired. Available in the DVD release of the 1970s Plastic Man series.

-Garbage Pail Kids - 1987-88. The show was based on the Topps card line. It was ordered by CBS but pulled at the last minute and replace with 30 more minutes of Muppet Babies. It was shown in several European countries. ***NOTE: This makes the list because it was produced for the US market and never aired here. Series DID see a release in many European and Asian countries.

-Pryde of the X-Men - 1989. Pilot created for an intended X-Men series. This would later be broadcast on NBC in the 'Marvel Action Hour' and has at least two different VHS releases! Definitely inspired the 90s X-Men series on Fox Kids that would become a phenomenal smash hit!

-Gizmo and the Gremlins - 198?. Pilot possibly created and quickly canned due to parental complaints about the Gremlins 'Stripe' action figure being to frightening for kids. Suppose they decided a cartoon wouldn't be the best idea. Some people claim to have seen this, but surprisingly remember nothing about it. There is no proof that it was actually broadcast or made it past the storyboard stage.

-Operation: Aliens - 1992-93. Proposed animated series based off of the 'Alien' franchise. Pilot episode has never surfaced. Still shots exist from this pilot, so it was most likely completed. Hopefully it will turn up one day.

-Starriors - 1984-85. Unknown if actually produced. 1984 trade advertisement released by Tomy stated "There is currently a Starriors television mini-series in production to air in Spring and Fall '85." No proof of actually existing or ever being broadcast.

-Fluppy Dogs - 1986. Broadcast on Thanksgiving 1986 as an animated special. Was originally intended as a Pilot for the third Disney animated Television series.

-The Real Ghostbusters - 1985. Test Pilot for the series. Runs only a few minutes and the major difference is the Ghostbusters look more film accurate, such as wearing matching brown jumpsuits. Available in complete series DVD boxset.

-Voltron - 1984. 3 different pilots created. All of them different from released series. The biggest difference being the inclusion of clips from 'Albegas' AKA Gladiator Voltron. This series was never released as part of the Voltron franchise as intended. One of the pilots is available in the Voltron "Blue Lion" Tin. NOTE: This is in the Tin version only. The regular amaray case release has no special features!

-Dick Digit - Late 60s or early-mid 70s. Rare Filmation pilot that was unknown for many years until uploaded to youtube. Apparently released in the UK on a very rare cartoon compilation VHS.

-Garbage Pail Kids - 1987-88. The show was based on the Topps card line. It was ordered by CBS but pulled at the last minute and replace with 30 more minutes of Muppet Babies. It was shown in several European countries.

-Garbage Pail Kids - 1987-88. The show was based on the Topps card line. It was ordered by CBS but pulled at the last minute and replace with 30 more minutes of Muppet Babies. It was shown in several European countries.

I see where youre coming from but the whole series was made and broadcast in Europe. Trying to keep this list specific to cartoons that only a single pilot episode was ever made, or the Pilot is completely different when compared to the released series. Does the pilot episode to Garbage Pail Kids have many differences when compared to the main series? Thanks for the suggesting, if you think of any other pilots or unreleased material please add it! I will add GBK to the list, with a note indicating it was unreleased in USA.

This cartoon made in the 80's seemed to be the false start
to the later series that aired about 3 years later. Several changes
were made in the series. For one thing, Kitty Pride was the kid
member of the team, not Jubilee
I suppose following Paul Hogan's portrayal of Crocodile Dundee,
and the Australian tough guy craze of the mid/late 80's the makers
of the pilot thought that the ideal tough guy would have
an Aussie accent, ignoring the fact Wolverine was Canadian
The later series changed his voice to more of a gruff "Dirty Harry"
style voice.
I guess the public just wasnt ready for an Aussie Wolverine
_____________________________________________________________
the origin story of one of Timmy Turner's
favorite tv heroes, Crash Nebula
Fairly OddParents(2004)
Episode:Crash Nebula

It seems to be the pilot eps. for
a spin-off that never occurred.
-view-Episode:Crash Nebula

Fluppy Dogs
The tv special was meant to be the pilot that would
launch the series...Never happened.

Space Usagi
The space farinng samurai rabbit had a series in
the works, but I read that the creators of TMNT
were a bit hesitant to air another space rabbit while
Bucky O'Hare was on the air.
-view-Space Usagi pilot

Gizmo and the Gremlins

Operation Aliens

Starriors
Apparently it aired on the Super Sunday Cartoon block
for a very brief run in 85'

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Last edited by Straydog on Wed Oct 02, 2013 2:42 pm; edited 11 times in total

The "Plastic Man" pilot was released on the "Plastic Man" complete series DVD set that contains all of the 1970s "Plastic Man" cartoon series.

And the "Pryde of the X-Men" pilot was released to VHS, by the way. (I have this release myself. )

I remember seeing the "Solarman" VHS release ads in Marvel comic books- haven't seen this one myself, but I am familiar with it.

I have seen the "Garbage Pail Kids" cartoon series- watched it as a kid and then more recently rewatched the whole series on DVD, when it finally got released to DVD. [And yes, it did air in various markets around the world in its original run- I have heard that includes some parts of America too.] It's a fun cartoon series and not nearly as bad as what many have said about it. (It's also not nearly as gross as the trading cards themselves- it even has a bit of a moral to it.) Of course, I've also seen the infamous live action "Garbage Pail Kids Movie"- not one I would watch again. But even so, that movie wasn't as bad as I'd heard either- it even had a bit of a moral to it as well.

_________________"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me." - Jesus (John 14:6)

"You can do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it."- MacGyver

From 1972 to 1973, there was the ABC Saturday Superstar Movie programming block on ABC that aired animated spinoffs from live action shows and pilots for animated series, including the cartoon version of "Lost in Space" previously mentioned.

Other shows that got animated spinoffs through this programming include "Bewitched", "Nanny and the Professor", "That Girl", "Gidget", and "The Munsters". (As well "Love, American Style" though the cartoon special was only loosely based on it.) You can see a full list here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_ABC_Saturday_Superstar_Movie

Read more on it (with pics and videos) here-http://billyingram.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-abc-saturday-superstar-movie.html

_________________"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me." - Jesus (John 14:6)

"You can do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it."- MacGyver

Here's another animated spinoff from a live action series. It was meant as a pilot for a possible series, but the series never happened.
On May 21, 1980, CBS aired "Carlton, Your Doorman"- which was a cartoon spinoff from the live action "Rhoda" series- and this is the only place where we get a look at Carlton's face. (On "Rhoda", it was always just a voice at the door or maybe sometimes a hand, etc. He was voiced by Lorenzo Music, also the original voice of Garfield.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlton_Your_Doorman

_________________"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me." - Jesus (John 14:6)

"You can do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it."- MacGyver

I don't know if this really counts, but "The Flintstones" was originally called "The Flagstones" and it had a screen test made to show to financial backers that was 1 minute and 42 seconds in length. The animation is different from the standard cartoon known today. (And of course, this name was eventually changed since it's very close to The Flagstons, the characters from the "Hi and Lois" comic strip.)
This screen test was included on "The Flintstones" Season 1 DVD release.

_________________"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me." - Jesus (John 14:6)

"You can do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it."- MacGyver

From 1972 to 1973, there was the ABC Saturday Superstar Movie programming block on ABC that aired animated spinoffs from live action shows and pilots for animated series, including the cartoon version of "Lost in Space" previously mentioned.

Other shows that got animated spinoffs through this programming include "Bewitched", "Nanny and the Professor", "That Girl", "Gidget", and "The Munsters". (As well "Love, American Style" though the cartoon special was only loosely based on it.) You can see a full list here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_ABC_Saturday_Superstar_Movie

Read more on it (with pics and videos) here-http://billyingram.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-abc-saturday-superstar-movie.html

Yes but out of all of those the only one that was a pilot for an intended series was Lost in Space. The rest were made specifically to be animated specials for the Saturday Superstar movie.

click the link,...It states that Butch Hartman
intended to create a spin-off from this episode

The Crash Nebula segment took up all but the
first and last 2-3 minutes of the Fairly Oddparents
episode. Timmy ran home turned on the tv and began
watching. The Nebula story continued from there.
Different animation style as well.
It couldve stood alone as an independent pilot episode.

Another one
there were plenty of failed animated series following
The Simpsons success in the early 90's. NBC tried a prime-
time animated series. It never made it past the pilot episode
The Jackie Bison Show